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tv   The Ed Show  MSNBC  December 31, 2012 8:00pm-9:00pm PST

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i'm milissa rehberger. welcome back to breaking news cover range on a fiscal cliff deal on capitol hill. democrats got out of their meeting with vice president joe biden. the vice president had been is set to the hill to discuss the deal and he spent much of the past 24 hours working out the details with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. here is what we know about the potential deal as of right now. current bush era tax cuts will expire for individuals with an income over $400,000, also for couples with an income over $450,000. unemployment benefits will be extended. the sequester, automatic spending cuts that would hit a wide range of government programs, including department of defense, will be dedelayed for a two-month period and be
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paid for with a 50/50 split on tax increases and spending cuts. joining us now is kelly o'donnell what have you learned with the vice president's meeting with senate democrats? >> we were able to talk to some within the meeting, they are in a bit of waiting game, in part because of the legislation, being turned into an actual test that will have the lengtext tha language. and the budget office will give it a score what it will cost the government to do this. at this very late hour, many people at work here at the capitol hill and going over that now. the vice president was able during his meeting with democrats to walk through the process, at how he and minority leader mitch mcconnell were able to reach this agreement and what benefit he sees for this. this is significant for the president's second term for
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achievement that will begin -- will mark the second term and for democrats to go along in support of the president, one of the political arguments that joe biden can make. in support of the president. what we know on the house side, both nancy pelosi, in charge of the democrats in the house and house speaker john boehner have been kept in the loop throughout. important because once the senate deals with this, it would go to the house. now, what we do expect in talking to a number of democrats tonight, some have put on coats and scarves and were going to lay down for a little while, waiting for the word to come back. others still think a vote can happen tonight. but tonight might not be defined by the final hour of 2012, but instead whatever time in the wee hours that document can get ready and get to the senate floor. so many people who work in the capitol who are not directly involved, from those who operate the trains that get from building to building to staffers
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on the senate floor to keep things moving to security, so many people working waiting for this to be resolved. political arguments and disappointments within the democratic side as we expect there to be among republicans as well. no deal gets everything people want. there are come radio mizes for people. and this is a smaller deal than many hoped there would be. it gives a short-term period before they have to think about what they have to do to make a longer decision about the spending cuts. talking about the two-month delay. a lot of work to go. a period where we're not able to answer questions about the timeline, but it does seem to be moving forward and members of the senate who have been here all day and waiting it out to see when they can cast a vote, and what the result will be. milissa. >> to the point you were just making. people on both sides of the aisle unhappy with the bill for various reasons and people in the middle who are really having to stick their necks out a bit
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politically to make this compromise happen. take us through the list, if you will, of the players? and who is likely to emerge as winners and others not so much? >> well there, certainly has been a lot of judgment made about the political viability of the speaker of the house. has he been able to lead his conference of republicans to get this to a destination? he has had some roadblocks for sure. at the same time, many of his republican members who are sometimes critical of the positions do tell us they believe his position as speaker is secure. his election as speaker will happen in the new conference -- the new congress a couple of days from now, so people have speculated, with john boehner be in some sort of jeopardy, he has been in many soft difficulty of the down turn of some of these negotiations. we're not hearing much about that. majority leader harry reid in the senate, he has been critical in getting things done for the president, but in these last 48 hours or so, his role has been a little bit to the sidelines as
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the vice president has taken center stage for democrats. and has been able to try to bring this deal together, i also saw in the hallways tone, the president's liason of congress. he has been here working on all kinds of issues, he has a lot invested in this too. there will be people who most folks will never know their names, the key staffers who work very close well these leader who's have done most of the heavy lifting to get to a deal. mitch mcconnell, up for re-election in his home state in 204 1 4 and has that to consider as he goes forward as you think about the pressure on republicans to raise taxes in this deal. they are going to acknowledge doing that. that can be difficult, as well as will they be able to achieve enough spending cuts. there is a political issue for mitch mcconnell personally as well as trying to lead
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republicans. the president will have made an achievement here. he did not get the $250,000 threshold, he was able to show he could give on that and bring in additional new taxes which is something he campaigned on for a very long time. as the assessments are done over the next few days, there will be the "winners and losers." much has to be determined here. will they get the votes? after all of this work, you can imagine the vice president will be telling fellow democrats there, are things that can be worked out later, but to sell this to democrats to deliver a victory for the president. >> stand by. we would definitely like to speak to you again as this moves forward. we got a statement from chuck schumer. there will be a strong democratic vote for this proposal and hopefully we will vote before midnight. we spoken to other who's say that's probably not likely.
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senator harry reid says they are waiting for the coo as well. let's go to nbc's kristen welker at the white house. tell us what you are hearing from your sources there? >> good evening, milissa. according to chuck todd, breaking details from that meeting that vice president biden just had. no one in the meeting said they were planning to vote against this bull once it does move through the senate, it doesn't mean they won't. they didn't voice opposition during that meeting, so that is significant this idea there is some liberal revolve doesn't seem to be coming to the floor, the vice president's agreement received very well. and speculation it could get as many as 80 votes. the vice president putting to caucus members this way. the second part of a three-part process. first was the budget control act. this deals with the issue of
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taxes, something that president obama has been talking since 2008. campaigned on this issue in 2012, and the third part will be that march trifecta, when you are going to have both the budget to deal with as well as the debt ceiling and the sequester issue, which will come back again, those are some of the details my colleague, chuck todd, gotten from inside that meeting with the senate democratic caucus. we expect president obama to be briefed on that meeting as well. vice president biden played a key role in negotiations. i am getting details from democratic source who's say the president has played an important role as well. working the phones. apparently last night after vice president biden had spoken to mcconnell, he, the president, a number of staffers met from 1:00 a.m. until 1:45 and sort of hammered out the final details of this deal and then their
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staffers were up until way past 3:30 this morning. this is something that has been going on overnight while a lot of people have been sloping on the white house and that is the latest we've been hearing. the president waiting to be briefed in the meeting with vice president biden. the big takeaway seems to be no democrats really voiced opposition to what the violation president was saying. it seems like it will get a lot of support. milissa. >> what is your sense -- first of all, this bill will be the product of a lot of compromise. and a lot compromise that people disagree with. it's not over tonight. plenty of things coming immediately down the road. with that said, do any of the things stand in the way of it being a political victory for the president? >> i think both sides will be seen as compromising to some
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extent. the president depends who you ask. he campaigned on that figure of $250,000, he wanted taxes to go up on people making $240,000 or more. of course, that threshold has been set high er at $400,000 fo individuals and $450,000 for couples. officials point out in reality, you are not losing that much revenue. still getting $600 billion in revenue through these tax increases that will take affect, if this legislation does, in fact, pass. but, again, there are some folks -- the president left who said it is not good enough, not what he promised when he campaigned, and they are concerned with the deep cuts that could potentially go into effect. richard trunka of the afl-cio, one of the folks who came out and said he doesn't like the
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deal. urging democrats to turn this deal down. at this point, based on the reporting coming out of that meeting that vice president biden had with the senate democratic congress, it doesn't appear a lot have been swayed by liberal democrats who believe this is not good enough. the people on the right will see this as a compromise to some extent as well because they moved the needle on taxes and because they are dealing with the sequester now and reporting this in this dual way. both through new revenues and cuts. not for the president for how he might see them deal with. this will be another 11th hour knock down, dragout fight two months from now. we'll certainly be prepared for that. again, room for compromise within the sequester and the other point that he brought up, by officials who were close to this talk on the democratic side is that they have left themselves some room for negotiations. in other words, there are other
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tax revenues that they can get in the future. through scaling back tax breaks. other entitlement reforms can be considered. they feel moving forward when you look at that two months mark where we will be dealing with some of the very similar issues, again, if not the same issues, both feel there will be room to negotiate. kelly points out, whenever you are a deal like this, there will be people who just don't like it, and then people who will come to the table and decide to vote for it given the 11th hour, given the fact that there is so much pressure on them to get something done, the economy is really at stake, people's taxes are at stake, and if we go over the fiscal cliff, individuals will see taxes go up by $2,000, there is a lot of pressure on congress and white house to take action.
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that pleasure is playing a huge role. >> kristen welker and kelly o'donnell, thank you, both. we continue our breaking coverage of fiscal cliff talks and what appears to he about a last-minute break through when we come back. please stay with us. ♪ [ male announcer ] why do more emergency workers everywhere trust duracell...?? duralock power preserve. locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. now...guaranteed. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade.
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i feel really very, very good about how this vote is going to go, but having been in the senate as long as i have, there are two things you shouldn't do. you shouldn't predict how the senate is going to vote before
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they vote. you won't make a lot of money. and number two, you surely shouldn't predict how the house will vote. but i feel very good. i think we'll get a very good vote tonight. happy new year, and i will see you all maybe tomorrow. >> vice president joe biden on capitol hill just minutes ago after coming out of a meeting with senate democrats. he met with them for a while, trying to convince the naysayers in his own party, thinking that they should come up for a vote tonight. welcome back to msnbc's breaking news coverage from the fiscal cliff deal that should have been reached on the hill. and new york democrat senator chuck schumer tells nbc news there will be a "strong democratic vote for this proposal" adding "hopefully we'll vote before midnight" others seem to indicate a vote
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tonight is a little less likely. we will see. for his reaction, let's bring in msnbc's ed schultz, host of "the ed show." thank you for taking time out of your night to be with us. how does this deal look from a progressive point of view? >> milissa, thanks for the opportunity. sources in the white house tell me they are very confident that this is exactly what the american people are going to want. that the rate is going to go to 39. 39.6%, it is going to be fixed it is going to be permanent. this is what the president campaigned on. this will be $600 billion in new revenue with zero spending cuts. so in this round of negotiation, cpi, off the table. medicare, medicaid, off the table. one year unemployment benefits will be extended for a year,
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unemployment benefits extended for a year. business tax credit will be extended for a year, the student loan help is going to be a five-year program along with a low income tax credit. this is what sources are telling me. the big thing here, and the reason why chuck schumer is saying that there will be strong democratic support is because the president has won the war on race. there has been a lot of conversation about, well, let's go to 37 or 37.5. the president will get 39.6%. this takes us to the old rates under the clinton administration and they are permanent and it will take a big move by the congress to move us off that rate in the future this is a big -- a big win for the white house, $600 billion in revenue with no spending cuts and we go to round two as the calendar takes us to the next phase of all of this.
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i think it's a big win for the white house, something the republicans know they have to take, know there has to be more revenue in the treasury and willing to fight for another day on spending cuts. >> i want to read this statement that came out from house speaker john boehner, majority leader eric cantor and kevin mccarty. kathy mcmorris rogers entereded this statement. the house will honor the statement to consider the senate agreement if it is passed. whether the house will rescind or properly amend the measure won't be met until they and the american people can review the legislation. >> what do you think the chance is with both parties not happy with the compromise reached. what do you think the chances are that it will pass, probably in the senate but not run into trouble in the house? >> you heard vice president
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biden. the white house has put forth a deal and gotten some republicans is in leadership so go along with this. is a big step. we're going to see the republican party rear its ugly head and see how rogue they want to be in going against the majority of americans. very clear. you look at every poll out there protect social security, medicare, medicaid. in this round, that's exactly what the white house did. republicans want to go against that, they have to deal with it in 2014. they want the wealthiest americans to pay for. that's what will happen in this deal. republicans will have to deal with that down the road this will bring more money into the treasury and won't hurt the middle class. the middle class has been protected in this deal and that's exactly what the president said he would do all along. and this is a monumental move by
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the republicans if they vote for this, there will only be two republicans that ever voted for a tax increase. for the president to keep this, is it's dig deal. they would be going against the will of the people if they fight this at this point, and i believe they know that. they have exhausted thimss. the last final part of the deal was the estate tax. sources are telling me $5 million for single. $10 million for a couple and the rate as i understand, i don't have solid information on that but it will go up a little bit. the first $5 million will be protected, $10 million per couple. that is what the republicans are pushing hard for. this is a good deal, a good
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compromise, what the country wanted, and we'll have to go to congress and find out exactly what else can be done for us to move the country forward financially. i would say this is a big victory for the president and for the people this is what the people voted for. >> you know, it's not just republicans who are members of their own party are against it. there are democrats who don't like it either. as a matter of fact, i'm heard you say the afcci 06r7b come out, literally within seconds of if being announced. they don't think it goes far enough. >> i would take issue with that. i heard what you said, and the middle class tax cuts are protected. the big three, medicare, medicaid, social security are protected. the wealthiest americans will pay more. look, they are upset because it's going from $250,000 to $400,000 on a single and
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$450,000 on a couple. that means nobody is going to be paying any extra tax until after this level. this is one point that the white house decided to give a little room on negotiation. but at the end of the day, this will help the economy if you believe there is going to be less taxes from people taken in under 400,000, $450,000. more expendable income to keep the economy going. that's what the white house wants. to go from 250ths $for $400, that's a small move to protect the big three, and if you are getting a fixed rate on 39.6%. if i could just put it this way. the white house is taking the republicans to the cleaners in negotiation on this this is a huge win for the white house, if they can get the votes on this and that's why schumer is coming out, saying it will be strong democratic support. big win for the democrats, big
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win for america. this underscores the vote of november 6th. no question about it. >> ed schultz, thank you very much for taking the time for us tonight. we'll be back in a moment with continuing coverage with the apparent deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. you're watching msnbc, the mace for politics.
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welcome back to coverage of the breaking news on capitol hill where white house and lawmakers in the senate have
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come up with a brplan to deal wh the fiscal cliff. senate democrats out of a immediating with joe biden indicate there is a strong democratic support for the plan. it is not clear if we will see a vote in the senate tonight. the house remain as juniored until noon tomorrow. no matter what, the nation will go off the cliff in a few minutes, at mid might eastern, at least temporarily. nancy pelosi released a statement, just a short time ago, saying in part "when a final agreement is reached and passed by the senate, i will present it to the house democratic caucus." for republican reaction, let's bring in political analyst and former chair of the rnc, michael steele, happy almost new year. >> happy almost new year, milissa. did you ever think this is what we would be doing tonight? >> i did not. but in all fairness, we could have guessed it. what's your reaction? >> my reaction is, you know,
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typical washington, wait until the last minute. i'm wondering why we're doing this on new year's over, but a deal is a deal. in many respects, you can sum this up very simply. for all these many years, democrats have complained about the bush tax cut causing the deficit and tonight looks like the deal has been cut with joe biden and the democrats to make those very same tax cuts. at least a majority of them, $3 trillion permanent. the question? how is it paid for? where are the spending cuts to offset the $3 trillion that these tax cuts will cost us? there is a lot more to be done in this deal. pushing this do you understand the road to march gives a whole new definition to march madness, you will deal with sequestration, the debt increase, and a host of other things, so we'll see how this
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plays out. republicans have a lot to chew on in the next 12 hours or so, simply because we have been working on raising tax as. a lot of new legislators that took the pledge we would get spending in control before spending would be touched that will be interesting forrepublicans in the house. waiting to see what deal is. mcconnell and the president and biden have worked out. we'll go from there. >> in your opinion, what are the spending cuts that are being talked about, eventually? what are those? what do you think should be in there? >> a lot of them would focus around, ed schultz, talking about the big throw. the question, knowing the implosions that exist within
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those programs down the road, which will those become part of the conversation? how will we deal with, you know, the factoring in the age of people reaching a certain point and say, 72, 73, 74, at what age do we begin to allow benefits to come online? those are of the types of questions that have little economic consequences to them down the road, and everyone may be applauding about the big three not being touched tonight, but at some point, the fiscal impact will have to be addressed and those will require some reforms that obama heretofore has been rhett isn't to put on the table any appreciable measure, talked about it, but not in specifics. that has to be part of the
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discussion down the road, whether it's with respect to deficit in a few month or sequestration or other things, the department of service is another thing. a lot of neocon friends on the right think it's psycho. but the reality, everything has to be on the table if we're honest with the american people about getting our fiscal house in order. they need to know the american people, exactly what the costs are, the consequences are, the priorities are quite frankly, milissa. we need to find a balance between guns and brothers or will we live in an absolutist world where you can't have one without the other? i think that will be part of the sequestration as well. >> the heritage foundation came out and said -- basically gave it a huge thumbs down. how does this affect republicans who vote for it? is that something they carry
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with them in deciding this? >> i think it will be. i think with the change occurring with leadership and the fact that they are talking about scoring members, republican members on how they vote on matters going forward, yeah, i think some will look at that and weigh it, but the reality still remains, look, you got to, you know, reflect your constituency who sent to you the congress, reflect on also and more importantly, the priorities of the nation, and right now we are in a situation where it's not about one single member's district, it's about every district in the country, about every americans and how we managed it. and, you know, boehner, that's a big challenge over the last few months, trying to find that sweet spot. i believe with my buddy, lanny
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davis, that simpson bowles identi framework is a got starting point. maybe that gets another look going into the new year. the president will be less hesitant to embrace it, and see what his options are. it does get tough for the president. may be smiling a little bit, at least one side of their mouth tonight. it gets tougher when you have to factor in again sequestration, and that feeling, definitely shut down some things like that that are still looming. you have to put that framework in place, milissa, to begin to really long-term structurally correct the problems we have and begin to manage them. >> thank you for your time, former rnc chair michael steele. we'll be right back with breaking news from capitol hill.
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welcome back to breaking news coverage of the fiscal cliff deal from capitol hill. lawmakers have reached a tentative deal to avoid across the board tax increases. here are some of the highlights of the proposed plan. current bush era tax plans will expire for individuals with an incomorye orver $400,000 and fo couples over $450,000. unemployment benefits will be extended and automatic spending cuts that will hit a variety of departments, including the department of defense, will be delayed for a two-month period and paid for with a 50/50 split of tax increases and spending cuts. mike viqueira with more from capitol hill. mike. >> milissa, very interesting evening to say the least. so much activity. the vice president arriving on
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capitol hill, 9:15 eastern time. i guess about 2 1/2 hours ago. huddled with senate democrats, essentially selling them on the deal that he has struck with the republican leader, mitch mcconnell. an hour and a half later, the senator started to emerge, positive, optimistic signses from leading democrats in the senate. including chuck schumer, who too optimistically said we would have a vote before tonight or raise the possibility in the senate, we're only 2 2 0 minutes away, but the goal is to vote in the senate on the deal they have come up with. and schumer and many other senators have eamericai emerged anticipate having many democrat votes at all. many coming outside of their own meeting anticipate that they are sort of going to hold their nose and vote for this milissa, something in this bill for everyone to hate. and the question remains now,
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assuming sometime before dawn, the senate does vote, after we have technically gonory the fiscal cliff, what will happen in the house of representatives, we've seen leaders jointly say as promised they will consider the senate product. what comes out of senate, but they are not committing to putting that bill on the floor. they are leaving open the possibility that they could amend it, and then send it back to the senate and who knows how long that process will take. they say they will give it time, give the house of representatives review it. let the american people review it. mitch mcconnell, who after all won't cut the deal if he thinks john boehner won't put this on the floor and pull the rug out from mitch mcconnell, who himself is somewhat on a limb on this thick, there were consultations all along here, but i have to tell you there, is a very tough vote in the house of representatives tomorrow and
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whenever that vote comes. here is the selling point that republican leaders will tell their rank and file. they will say we're giving something away. allowing tax hikes after midnight tonight, technically they vote to cut taxes, might be another selling point in and of itself. in two months, when the united states hits that debt ceiling, and congress has to vote whether to raise it or not. and the sequester, when they come due, when mandatory spending cuts take effect, remember, they are delaying them for two months, and we will have another huge battle on our hands, and at that point, we will have more leverage, more distance between now and the election and the debt ceiling, because the united states could be default unless the president decides to raise it. it will take an act of congress to raise the debt ceiling.
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that's what we're looking at in the short term, whether the republicans can get this passed out of the house of representatives tomorrow or the following day, and two months down the line, because the deal they struck tonight, milissa, carries the seeds of further confrontation, bigger confrontation, one more thing, joe biden when he left the meeting stopped by the pool camera outside the senate chamber and said it will be a tough vote. never predict how the senate or house will vote. he asked what was his selling point to democrats? and his one word answer? me. milissa. >> let's go back to what you were saying earlier if we could. you were talking about the relationship in this deal with between john boehner and mitch mcconnell. much has been said about -- john boehner between a rock and a hard place in all of this. >> a very tough spot. >> could you expand on that a little bit? >> sure. it was very clear after the election -- remember, the day after the election, john boehner appeared in the capitol and said
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i'm willing to deal with the president, i want to compromise. we will agree to raise revenues. but he didn't agree to raise tax rates, that is a nonstarter among republicans in the house of representatives. he was fryitrying to get out ah of this political tsunami coming his way. he knew because the president was talking about it during the entire campaign season that the president was going to stick to his commitment to raise rates on those making more than $250,000. the president, much to the dismay of many on the left, has given considerably on that point the numbers 450,000 in annual income respectively. but still that is not something house republicans will vote for, no matter what the income level is. and we saw that when the speaker's plan b set at $1 million crashed and burned. what they will do, they will tell members this is the best deal we'll get now, and
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essentially this is a jam job. the president has come out, we had the campaign style event, he even had one today. really got under the skin of republicans, but john boehner has very little room here. he can simply -- he can watch his party explode or he can try to defy the president, defy what appears to be an overwhelming majority in the senate and vote to approve this deal sometime in the wee hours tonight and take his chances with the political dis'ser and economic disaster, certainly not in the least. >> i just keep wondering why tonight? i can't get that out of my head. we talked earlier about the overwhelming potential that this is a lot of posturing. come on, it's new year's eve. could be hope sipping a glass of champagne while the bill is written and looked over and what
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really is your gut feeling about why all of these people hanging out on capitol hill tonight, did they have to do it tonight? >> we have seen this unfold before. these negotiations are full of brinksmanship, out to the last minute. each of the president's four years now, you know, there is always the plane getting ready to go to hawaii to take him and his family on their annual vacation. it is always delayed. christmas eve one year. the deadline this year happens to be the first of the year, and once you look at it milissa, the deadline can be retroactively pass anything to january 1st, and so the risk that they run, and letting it go over too far is the economic and financial calamity and then the loss of confidence in american governing institutions if that's not already pretty much shot. so the simple answer to your
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question is congress doesn't act unless they are under the gun. brinksmanship, a game of chicken, unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, this game is not quite over yet. still question lines before we get to the finish line and avert the fiscal cliff. in two months, the voice president told democrats behind closed doors, there will be a donnybrook in vintage biden speak when we talk about the mandatory spending cuts that they delayed to the end of february. >> thank you so much. we'll be back in a moment with continuing coverage of negotiations on the fiscal cliff, please stay with us. the boys use capital one venture miles for their annual football trip. that's double miles you can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder.
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i feel very good about how this vote could go. having been in the senate as long as i have there's two things you shouldn't do. you shouldn't predict how the senate will vote before they vote. and number two you shouldn't predict how the house will vote.
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i feel very, very good. i think we'll get a very good vote tonight. happy new year, and i will see you all maybe tomorrow. >> that was vice president joe biden just moments ago after his meeting with senate democrats. welcome back to msnbc, special coverage. we're getting our first reaction from the republican leaders in the house. they released a joint statement saying the house will honor its commitment to consider the senate agreement if it is passed. decisions about whether the house will accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until house members and the american people have been able to review that legislation. you know it's just been pointed out it's almost midnight and we
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have our very own krystal ball coming on. she's on phone with us to weigh in on this whole thing with just a few minutes left to go until we go right over this fiscal cliff. >> hey. good to be back. >> just give me a quick overview of how you think this is going to go in the next hours and couple of days. >> it's looking good in the senate. it's democrats look like they're all on board. looks like mitch mcconnel has republicans on board. it needs to pass with large margin. the big question mark is the house. john ba john baoehner has had this marker. he said no to his own plan b bill that had the tax rates
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going up for those over a million dollars. there's no question will be republican defections in the house. can he keep together a ma jorjo of his caucus. the house republicans have been so unpredictable that i couldn't wager a guess on that. i would think they want to take this deal and live to fight another day but you just don't flow until you see the votes come through. >> i'm sure you just overhead my conversation. john boehner is in really tough spot. talk about your thoughts on what he's got to be doing as far as the dance to please members of his party and try to work out a compromise.
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>> he's probably the person having the worst new year's eve of anybody in washington. he's got to contend with the fact he's going to need some democrats on board. he's got a caucus that doesn't like to go along with him. they don't really trust him think think he's a moderate and part of the establishment. they're looking for him to sell them out. he created more problems for himself by removing a few of those members from their committee assignment. that's part of what prompted their revolt on the plan b bill. it was kind of payback. he's made things worse for himself.
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it's a tough caucus to start with. many are not worried about a general election. their are worried about the primary. >> we are going to have to leave it there. sorry about that. we're just out of time. if there's a vote we'll bring that to you live. stay tuned to a special edition of the rachel maddow show. this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn
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